Tag Archives: tax reform

Deadlines Begin to Hem in Congress

BY STEVE BELL
FEB 2, 2017 | Reprinted from BipartisanPolicy.org

Despite the rousing reassurances by Republican congressional leaders at the GOP retreat in Philadelphia last week, it remains clear that Congress’ schedule is so jammed that the “first 200 day” pledges will never materialize. How President Trump reacts to this inevitable reality will reveal how deep the rifts remain between the president’s timetable and Congress’ legislative processes.

The first deadline Congress set for itself as it began the “repeal and replace” effort on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has come and gone. Committees were instructed under reconciliation to report legislation to repeal much of the ACA by January 27. They reportedly remain hard at work to produce these bills as soon as possible. Continue reading →

Conflicting Interests

BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from TheFeeheryTheory.com

The New York Times ran a story about a staff hire in Senator Reid’s office.  It was your typical cynical report about the “revolving door,” in the world of politics.  Here is an excerpt:

“Take what happened late last month as Washington geared up for more fights about taxing, spending, and the deficit. The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, decided to bolster his staff’s expertise on taxes. Continue reading →

Fiscal Cliff Tragedy/Comedy Part II

BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON

“Do you ever get the feeling that the whole world is a tuxedo and you are a pair of brown shoes?”

That was comedian George Gobel’s quip after he was upstaged during  a 1969 Johnny Carson Show by the unscheduled appearances of Dean Martin and Bob Hope.

Forty years later the whole country is a tuxedo and Washington is a pair of brown shoes–out of step, out of fashion, out of vogue and out of touch with the realities of governing the country. Continue reading →

The Rich are Different

BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from theFeeheryTheory.com

The rich are different than you and me. And it isn’t only that they have more money. The rich have come under attack recently, so I decided to take a look at who is really, really rich.

What I found was a group of people who have changed our world profoundly. Think of the Walton family, responsible for Walmart. The Mars family, responsible for all of that Halloween candy. Bill Gates and the dearly departed Steve Jobs, who revolutionized how we work, how we interact, how we live. Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook, and the Google guys are at the top too.

There is Warren Buffett, a role-model for all the savvy investors. And at both ends of the political spectrum, you have controversial figures like George Soros and the Koch brothers who made their money because they worked hard and were smarter than their competitors.

These folks have collectively revolutionized modern society. They had vision, creativity, persistence, and an innate toughness to get where they got.

So why should we begrudge them their wealth? Why should we talk them down and try to take their hard-earned money away from them? Continue reading →